Music Reviews

21 June 2011

Album Review: Mr Big - Bitter Streets

Mr Big's career has been one of ups and downs. The pop-rockers had some success in the mid '70s, topped by single 'Romeo' reaching the Top 5 in the charts. They also ...

21 June 2011

Album Review: Zac Brown Band - You Get What You Give

The country music genre is a tough one to get right in the mainstream, trying to ballance mainstream trends whilst sticking to your roots. By and large, it would be fair ...

20 June 2011

Album Review: Thomas Tantrum - Mad By Moonlight

It's perhaps not surprising that Lily Allen is a big fan of Thomas Tantrum, a band who have an swagger to match their catchy pop tunes. Mad By Moonlight sees the ...

20 June 2011

Album Review: Simple Plan

After three years, Simple Plan have returned with their fourth studio album. Whilst their previous two albums have never really reached the heights of debut No Pads, No Helmets...Just Balls, early ...

20 June 2011

Album Review: Duane Eddy - Road Trip

That Duane Eddy's Road Trip manages to confirm that he is still relevant is testament to his influence and legacy. The 73 year old guitarist began his career in the mid-50s, noted ...

18 June 2011

Download Festival Review: Skindred

When a band enters to the 20th Century Fox theme, it can go either way, in all honesty. Thankfully, it marked the beginning of one of the most entertaining sets of ...
17 June 2011

Download Festival Review: System of A Down

It was a set that most of Download Festival have been waiting for since 2006, and System of A Down largely delivered a special return. There was a delay before the ...
17 June 2011

Download Festival Review: The King Blues

The King Blues growing appeal is obvious from a crowd covering every stereotype, from emos to punk via ravers (complete with face paint), crossing a range of ages. Itch and the ...
17 June 2011

Download Festival Review: Silverstein

It's quite a shame that, seemingly, this Download Festival slot was essentially Silverstein's England farewell. No solid details are available just yet, although Shane Told seemed fairly frank and honest during ...
16 June 2011

Download Festival Review: Frank Turner

Frank Turner proved the extent of his near-universal appeal when he announced that, as well as being the only person to play Download and Cambridge Folk Festival in the same ...
16 June 2011

Download Festival Review: The Gaslight Anthem

Kicking off with 'Orphans', The Gaslight Anthem didn't let the rain or relatively small crowd damper their spirits as they took to the Download Festival Main Stage. Brian Fallon was beaming ...
15 June 2011

Download Festival Review: Bowling For Soup

Jaret and Eric took to the acoustic stage on Saturday, met by an unexpectedly large audience. Indeed, Jaret noted that it was the biggest acoustic audience Bowling For Soup had played ...
15 June 2011

Download Festival Review: Thin Lizzy

Every Thin Lizzy line-up since the tragic death of Phil Lynott has been met with sceptics, and this one is no different. When Female First saw this latest version of Thin ...
14 June 2011

Download Festival Review: The Darkness

After announcing they reformation earlier this year, and three warm-up shows, The Darkness made their long-awaited return at Download Festival, and may have saved rock n' roll all over again. Showing ...
14 June 2011

Download Festival Review: Anti-Flag

After Young Guns had some sound issues on the Second Stage, punk quartet Anti-Flag didn't suffer the same problem. Launching into a great performance of 'The Press Corpse', the band proved ...
10 June 2011

Album Review: Ada - Meine Zarten Pfoten

German star Ada has returned with her second album Meine zarten Pfoten (My Tender Paws), the follow up to her debut Blondie. Whilst on the surface this is electro, at its ...

9 June 2011

Album Review: The Feeling - Together We Were Made

The Feeling have moved a bit further away from their guitar-based pop roots with new album Together We Were Made. The album contains some absolute pop gems, although a few songs ...
7 June 2011

Album Review: Status Quo - Quid Pro Quo

Status Quo have been consistently releasing material since their first album in 1968. Now, after more than four decades and now 29 albums, the Quo are still going strong. Quid Pro ...
3 June 2011

Album Review: Mamas Gun - The Life And Soul

Mamas Gun look set to become the next big thing with their new album The Life And Soul. It’s a great record that shows an impressive amount of influenced that ...

3 June 2011

Album Review: Jackie Evancho - Dream With Me

Jackie Evancho was first introduced to the world last year on America’s Got Talent, stunning audiences with her stunning, mature vocals despite only being 10 years old. She is the first ...

2 June 2011

Album Review: Faith SFX - Man or Machine

Human beat boxing is something that will probably never break into the mainstream, but Faith SFX is definitely the one who could take it there. This is clear from his debut ...
2 June 2011

Single Review: Simple Plan - Can't Keep My Hands Off You

It’s been a while since Simple Plan were a relevant band in the pop punk scene. They’ve had a stream of singles, and will soon be releasing their fourth studio ...

1 June 2011

Single Review: The Blackout - Never By Your Side

The Blackout, for many, are a band that really achieve their potential and excel in the live environment. Thankfully, on tracks like ‘Never By Your Side’, this energy transcends to ...

1 June 2011

Album Review: Frank Turner - England Keep My Bones

Frank Turner’s newest release is a quintessentially English record, from the style of instrumentation right through to the title itself, taken from William Shakespeare’s The Life and Death of King ...